Stories

Francisco Bazo grew up in Lima, Peru. One of eleven children, Francisco started helping his mother in the kitchen at a very young age and found a genuine interest in cooking. While never professionally trained, Francisco's mother was a skilled cook and taught Francisco the importance of fresh ingredients, honoring the local bounty, and taking the time to make dishes from scratch.

Francisco’s father was an accomplished musician and his family was known in the community for entertaining. Throughout the year, friends and family from near and far gathered together at the Bazo house to celebrate good food, great company, and to dance.

Francisco moved to San Francisco in 1997 and immediately found a position at One Market Restaurant. Starting off as a dishwasher, he quickly made his way through the ranks and found that the bar and beverage program interested him most. He became involved in creating cocktails and found a new love, wine.

After holding a bartending position for over five years at One Market Restaurant, the Lark Creek Restaurant Group offered Francisco a management position at Lark Creek Restaurant in Walnut Creek. At the established eatery, he continued to impress ownership, who offered yet another opportunity for advancement, this time as the Bar Manager at One Market Restaurant.

Looking for a change, Francisco moved to Waterbar in 2010 and immediately became an integral part of the bar and beverage team, creating a loyal following of regulars and continuing to pursue his interest in food, drinks, and wine.

Francisco brings a new commitment to education as the Beverage Director at Waterbar. He is pursuing his own educational goals and is a Certified Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers. He is studying for the next exam and is involved in wine tasting groups and events in the local wine community. These achievements have motivated him to promote learning and staff education, and Francisco is an advocate for staff involvement and guides staff on trips to local wineries and breweries.

Francisco, his wife, and two daughters reside in Alameda. His love for entertaining is matched by his family and they are known to throw a great party. He and his family are actively involved in the community and whenever time allows, they love getting away for a camping or skiing trip.

A: I was born and raised in a small town in rural Nebraska called North Platte. Climbing trees, wading for crawfish and spending Saturday mornings mowing my grandparents lawn were all normal things for me.

Q: What did you want to be when you were 12?

A: I've know since I was 10 that I wanted to be a pastry chef. I never left my grandmother's side in the kitchen and I was baking loaves of banana bread by the dozen before I was a teenager. I didn't realize it at the time, but I created my first recipe when I was a sophomore in high school. I still use the apple pie filling recipe to this day.

Q: What's your favorite or spirit animal?

A: I love my dog Sam to death, but the hummingbird blows me away. There's something amazing about those tiny little birds and the way they have to live their lives. They have to be tough and resilient and that really resonates with me.

Q: Where's a destination on your bucket list?

A: I'm a huge national parks fan, but the next big trip will definitely be a road trip on the west coast of Norway. I want to hike the fjords and see the northern lights.

Erica likes to travel :)

Q: What is your greatest or biggest fear?

A: Honestly, spiders and bees. I'm deathly afraid of anything that small that you can't see coming and attacking you. I'm excited that we have our own bee hives, but I will be leaving the harvesting to Eric.

Q: What's a goal or lesson you have at Waterbar?

A: My goal here is to grow the pastry team and take it to the next level. I'm excited to collaborate with some amazing chefs and I look forward to mentoring the pastry chefs of tomorrow.

Say hello to Brittany!! She is our newest employee to climb the ranks here at Waterbar and we couldn't be happier! Let's see what she has to say!

Q: Where are you from?

A: California, home grown. I was born and raised in Elk Grove, about 2 hours east of San Francisco.

Q: What did you want to be when you were 12?

A: Being raised by parents that were both educators, as a kid I wanted to be an art teacher when I grew up. From a young age I was getting my hands dirty with art projects, which turned into a passion for photography as I got older. I never pursued teaching, but did graduate with a Bachelor of Arts with an emphasis in photography.

Q: What's your favorite or spirit animal?

A: Dogs are easily my favorite animal. I think that dogs can bring joy, comfort and love in a different way then people are able to. I look forward to the point in my life that I can have a furry love of my own.

Q: What's a destination on your bucket list?

A: The seven new wonders of the world. At some point in the next ten years I will take a year to travel around the globe to visit these extraordinary sites. They will be great jumping off points to explore the countries they are located in, as well as the counties that surround them.

Q: What's your greatest or biggest fear?

A: The ocean. Nature is a beautiful and powerful force that I both respect and fear.

Q: What's a goal or lesson you've learned from Waterbar?

A: During my time at Waterbar it has been my ambition to gain as much understanding about the food science that is pastry. I want to gain a stronger knowledge about the technicalities that go into creating food. It's one thing to be able to create a delicious dessert, but I strive to learn the background of the ingredients and what they are capable of doing.

The year is starting strong with another amazing woman joining the ranks as a boss! Megan is our newest Sous Chef and it's time to introduce her properly...

Megan to the left LOLing!

Q: Where are you from?

A: Born and raised in Southern California and until about two years ago I lived in San Diego. I came to the Bay Area because my brother has lived here for the last ten years and has been twisting my arm the entire time to move up.

Q: What did you want to be when you were 12 years old?

A: I wish I could say cooking but I remember wanting to be a marine biologist or train horses. I was heavy into horses and couldn't imagine living without them, but what 12 year old girl isn't? I also remember baking pumpkin pies with my Mom when I was 5, standing on a step stool with a wooden spoon and bowl. I know that experience had a large influence on me, perhaps more than I knew at the time.

Q: What's your favorite animal or spirit animal?

A: I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a soft spot in my heart for horses but dogs may take number one. I don't go too ga-ga for babies but if I see a dog, my inner dialogue immediately changes to something along the lines of baby talk.

Q: Destination on your bucket list?

A: As of right now the next place I want to visit is Europe- France in particular. But true bucket list destination? I would have to say Thailand. White sandy beaches, coconut soup and crystal clear water sounds dreamy.

Q: What is your greatest or biggest Fear?

A: Being the hopeless romantic that I am, I would say never finding 'the one'.

Q: Any goals or lessons that stick out from Waterbar?

A: I learn something every single day form Waterbar- I've never worked somewhere where that's the case, it's amazing. I love it. The biggest lesson that I've learned and one thing I still have to work on is understanding. It takes so many people so much time and effort to make the wheels turn, understanding is vital. I few of my mentors have so much patience and understanding, I couldn't be in a better position to learn and grow to be a stronger leader.

A: A veterinarian. I love animals! If there is a dog on Waterbar's patio there is a 99% chance I will offer it a dog treat made by our pastry team.

Q: What's your favorite or Spirit animal?

A: A corgi.

Q: What's the next destination on your bucket list?

A: The next trip I would like to check off the list is a road trip through the fjords of Norway.

Q: What's your biggest fear?

A: The dark.

Q: What's a goal you have or a lesson you've learned at Waterbar?

A: The goal I am currently working towards is getting my Level 1 Sommelier Certification. I am thankful to have many great, knowledgeable and patient mentors here at Waterbar willing to teach me all about the world of wine!

He has over 10,000 posts on Instagram. It's kind of a big deal. We here at Waterbar haven't introduced our newest team members properly. Carlo started first so we'll start with him. The questions have changed a little too, and we're excited to get to know these characters a little better too. Here it goes!

Q: Where are you from?

A: Born in San Francisco, raised in the Peninsula. I went to Serra HS and graduated from San Jose State.

Q: What did you want to be when you grew up when you were 12?

A: The dream was to be a baseball player for the San Francisco Giants. I played baseball all throughout my childhood, until I was injured at 17. I was really competitive: made every all-star team, MVP, all that stuff. I was good, if I do say so myself. But, when I was 17 I tore my rotator cuff and I had to stop playing for 6 months. As a pitcher, it was the end. I never got my velocity/speed back, even when I throw now it feels so unnatural. Makes me sad still but c'est la vie and look where I am now! In San Francisco at Waterbar. At least I'm close to AT&T Park!

Q: What's your favorite animal- or spirit animal?

A:Otters are my favorite animal. So much so that I have a keychain with otters on it. I went to the Wild About Otters exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium last year. I love otters so much my cousins and I call ourselves the otters. It's weird. I know. We even have a competition with each other called the Otterthon. It's a all around competition ranging from pool, basketball, bowling, ping pong, monopoly, skeeball, whatever we can compete with. I want to win. Badly.

Q: What's a destination on your bucket list?

A: Some people travel for old buildings or food. I don't, I travel for sports. My bucket list is to go to Tokyo, Japan and watch the Tokyo Giants play baseball in the Tokyo Dome. I've heard the fans there put us to shame. The cheers and chants are crazy and the vibe is like nothing else. I would love to be a part of that.

Q: What's your greatest/biggest fear?

A: Dying alone.

Q: What's a goal you have or lesson you've learned at Waterbar?

A: Communication. Where I came from was very different than Waterbar. It was kind of a one-man show. I ran all the nights by myself, every night- no other managers there with me. It was overwhelming at times but I learned a lot about myself and how I could handle anything. The lessons were non stop but so was the fun. Here, working with such a diverse team, communication is key and I'm learning that everyday.

Another summer, another peach and nectarine harvest with our favorite farmers,

The Masumoto Family!!

Waterbar and the Masumoto Family Farm have been working together for quite some time now. We adopted our trees over eight years ago and have gone up to harvest them every year, we are "The Mighty Waterbar "! Eric Hyman our Purchasing Manager along with Mas, Marcy, Nikiko and Korio have cultivated an awesome relationship. This year was special- one of our most dedicated and long standing servers Yetem and her sweet family of three went to Fresno, California last weekend and picked their little hearts out. The Masumoto's as always were gracious and enjoyed it every bit as much as Classic, Ethan and Yetem. She shared her pictures and from the looks of it, fun was had by all!

It was our pleasure to participate in this years Taste of Potrero. Benefiting our partner Daniel Webster Elementary, this event was fun and inspiring. What better way to raise money for a local school than get the best restaurants and bars of San Francisco together and share in the love of food, wine, drinks and education. Cheers to the future!

As of April 1st, we have raised $86,455 for local and national organizations that share in our love of planet and community. So, every time you order an oyster, just think you are doing something good and giving back. THANK YOU!

Below we have General Manager Rich welcoming Bay.org to the Oyster Giveback family.....

Happy Easter from Waterbar

Hard to believe, but it is the first day of Spring! With Spring comes Easter and our brunch menu is something to behold. For $55 per person you have options for each course and a dessert menu that will make not getting dessert impossible.

Riesling Prix Fixe 2017

If you couldn't tell how much fun we had with the Riesling Tasting menu we did at the beginning of the month, you have been missing out. The menu was inspired, the wine perfection, and our team excited by the enthusiasm of our guests.

Our Beverage Director Steve spoke about it, and Chef Justin plated some beautiful food and we're happy to share, again. can't wait for the next adventure, and with Spring and Summer on the way? It's only going to get better. Until then, enjoy the memories and try not to drool too much.

waterbar

California Law advises patrons that “consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish or egg may increase your risk of foodborne illness”. Vegetarian and special dietary restrictions are met with enthusiasm.